


Wings & Halos

by Bates



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Art Exhibition, Chef Dean, Doctor Gabriel, F/F, M/M, Painter Castiel, Punk Castiel, Slow Burn, Waiter Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 06:28:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3718531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bates/pseuds/Bates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sam breaks his leg, one of Charlie's friends Castiel steps in to help Dean in the restaurant. Dean can't seem to help the affinity towards his new colleague, perhaps a little weird colleague.<br/>After a while, Sam comes back and Dean is reluctant to let his friend go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wings & Halos

 

_ One day I will show you _

_ the dirt beneath my nails _

_ and you’ll know _

_ not only of the things _

_ I’ve buried and the graves _

_ I’ve dug, but of the weeds _

_ picked and the flowers _

_ grown. _

                                -  ** Kelsey Danielle**

 

 

 

“Sam. Slow down.” Dean grumbled as he clutched the phone between his shoulder and head. “Jesus. You’re not making any sense. Calm down.” They had closed the restaurant only an hour ago and Dean hadn’t even been asleep for more than twenty minutes at the most when his brother called him. Of course Sam had to call, it wasn’t like he valued his sleep or anything.

“I’m in the ER,” his brother said again, repeating what he just said mere seconds ago. “Broke my foot. It’s stupid, I know.” There was a short silence as Dean let his brother’s words seep in. His only waiter for next week - which was in two days  - just told him that, _hold on. Oh jesus_.  “Look, I can’t drive home at the moment and Gabriel has to work the night shift so he can't take me home - can you please come get me?.”

“Sure. I’ll bet here in a second. Good  thing that we’re not open tomorrow. ” He barely managed to hide is sigh. Of course, once things started to be better, something like this happened. After a few rougher weeks, with them working their asses off and getting pretty much nothing in return, things were looking up again. Couldn't last too long of course, bloody hell. "Let me get dressed first."

“I know Dean. I know. Just, come and get me please. There’s a baby that won’t shut up and it’s getting on my nerves.”

 

Dean arrived at the hospital a half an hour later, after speeding through town. The faster he could get his brother home, the fast he could go back to bed and sleep. He would be able to sleep in in the morning, it wasn't that big of a deal, he was just exhausted. The week had been more than crazy. Sam was sitting in the waiting room with an apologetic look in his eyes and a pair of crutches to accompany him. If he wouldn’t have been so annoyed about being woken up that soon after falling asleep, he probably would have laughed. Today wasn’t a day for laughing though.

        “So, what’s the verdict?” he asked, taking Sam’s bag from him. “How long are you out?”

        “Six weeks,” his brother almost groaned. “To start off with. Fracture wasn’t too bad, thank god. Just crutches, a cast and some pills to keep me happy. The presciption is in my bag, I think.”

        “Great. Come on, I’ll drop you off at home or do you want to crash at my place?" His brother shook his head.

        "No, I have, uh, somebody coming over to help me around."

        "So, Gabriel huh?” Dean barely managed to hide the smile on his lips.

        “Oh shut it. It’s nothing - it’s not official yet. We went on a date and that’s it. Oh don’t look at me like that Dean.” His brother fell silent for a little while, before he eventually sighed. "He uh, works here, was to one to put a cast on my leg but he had the night shift. He's coming over when he's off of work. I could wait for him to be able to pick me up, but the waiting was getting on my nerves."

        “Not saying anything man, but that smile. Him taking care of you. Sounds like a keeper.”

        “Ah shut up. I like him - don’t you dare screw this up if he ever comes by man.”

And that was how, with the help of Charlie, Dean ended up having an art student come in and help him out while his brother was out of  commission . Dean had no idea of who the stranger actually was, nor did he seem him for the first twenty minutes of his evening shift. Charlie knew him, which was a start Dean guessed. He would greet his new employee later, when he actually had the time to do more than have a bit of water between his short breaks.

        Sam was there, he just sat in the corner to keep an eye out. Seeing his brother hobble in on the crutches was more than comic, his brother really was too tall to walk with them without it being just weird. Dean trusted him to make sure that everything was still going okay and that the new waiter didn’t end up screwing them over or something. Not that he expected that. The people that Charlie knew seemed to be good people overall, a little weird sometimes, but good people.

        Only twenty minutes into service did Dean actually have a chance to step out of his kitchen now the first orders had been processed and he had a few minutes on his own before another dish could go out. It Dinner  was always a shortish rush at first and then an hour or so of a comfortable pace before things went crazy again. Dean didn’t get how people could come in at seven pm and still be hungry or want to eat, but it helped him pay the bills so he wasn’t complaining at all; perhaps he would at the end of the day when his feet and legs were sore from standing all day and his back was protesting the even more standing as he cleaned the kitchen.

        They were pretty well known in Lawrence, partially because of all the things that went down with their parents and partially because of the fact that they actually served quite good food, even if Dean said it himself. He could make some killer pie if he really took the time to do - something that he tried to do more and more as time progressed.

        Before, he was pretty adamant about his sleep times but now, he was happy if he got a little bit of time to sleep. He loved being up until four am to figure out what pie worked best or if he could change the receipt a little bit. Dean was always striving to make everything just that tiny bit better, not even caring whether it was the mains or the pies - though his favorite was  for sure  the pies.

        When Dean made a pie or at least tried them out, he had the satisfaction of watching it bake in the oven, pulling it out to reveal that amazing scent that would have started to fill the air while backing and then letting it cool down on the counter, only to actually get to try a piece. Often, he’d call in Sam or Charlie, whoever was at the restaurant late or early enough to be there before Dean went upstairs.

        Living in an apartment above his restaurant had proven to come in handy quite a few times already, when he’d remembered that he had forgotten to turn something off or well, the night that they had opened their restaurant for the very first time to see if everything was okay and worked. The whole crew - which was, admittedly only Charlie, Sam and Jo - had stayed in and well, considering that it was the opening, ended up drunker than they probably wouldn’t have liked.

 

When he ended up stepping out of the kitchen for a minute to see what was going on in the front, he was taken by surprise. Okay, Dean had to admit, he had expected the art student to look at least a little bit more, eccentric;  art students tended to be crazy with their hair or with well, whatever; Dean had taken just two steps on campus for Sam years ago and seen enough. This particular art student though - from the back, he wasn’t entirely sure whether they were female or male - was something different.

        They had grown out their hair until about a little longer than Sam’s hair, but had it in a bun - because of their regulations or because of the fact that they wanted it - and well, they did for sure show off that tattoo peeking at the base of their neck.

        Only Sam’s little cough brought him back to reality and well, stopped his staring, because that was what he had been doing. He only now realized that he actually had, probably a little bit too late, but at least they hadn’t noticed it, thank god.

“So, how are things?” Dean asked, feeling the need to cover up whatever this staring had been. His brother probably wouldn’t stop his teasing later, but at least he knew that it was coming. If that sly grin on his brother’s lips was anything to go by, he’d be in for a very long night.  “Everything going smooth?”

“Yeah. Cas is doing pretty well. He said he doesn’t really have that much experience, but it’s great. I only had to give him pointers on a few things. He’s rocking it.” He seemed to think for a bit. “You know, the girl in the corner? She’s been flirting with him almost non stop and he hasn’t reacted to it once. She’s so disappointed each time, it’s adorable.”

“Don’t make him do things all alone okay.”

 

Dean didn’t get the chance to talk to his new employee until well after his shift ended and he had the kitchen sort of clean. There were still a few things to be cleaned but they’d all have dinner together before closing off anyway. He had to wait for that, but first, food. He had barely eaten since breakfast and was starting to feel just that little bit wobbly. Sam had pushed him to eat something during lunch, but he just wasn't all that hungry. He regretted it now of course, but well, it was worth it.

        “Okay, are you all hungry?” Dean asked. “I hope you are. If somebody could help me with the plates for like a second, we can eat. Whoever does it get’s the biggest piece of pie. There’s some left over from dessert.”

        Dean had expected Charlie to practically run over, the way that she always did, this time though, it seemed to be Cas who did that. Not even for the pie, because he had been up on his feet before he had even mentioned the reward.

        “Thanks man, they’re back in the kitchen.” He threw the man a warm smile. Now, after work, he looked well, adorable wasn’t the right word for it. Downright, messy and adorable. Which was officially the first time that he would ever call anyone with that many tattoos adorable. “I guess we haven’t been introduced yet. Today has been crazy, I’m sorry about throwing you in the deep like this. I’m Dean by the way, in case my brother hadn’t told you yet. Dean Winchester.”

        “Hello Dean.” His voice was surprisingly low and gravelly. “I am Castiel, as you probably already heard from your brother - please call me Cas.” After they shook hands, Cas took two of the plates from the counter and followed him in the room, where Charlie and Sam were already sitting at the table.

 

They ate in silence. God, after a whole day in the kitchen, he didn’t know how he could still enjoy his own food. Not to brag or anything, but he had really outdone himself this time. Every since they had switched to organic produce from the farmers in the neighborhood, their food had slowly gotten better and better. They had to raise their prices a little bit, but the people didn't really seem to mind it that much. They kept coming at least.

        About halfway through them eating, Cas let his hair down, revealing dark blue stikes that he hadn’t noticed before. Dean was oddly intrigued by the other man’s appearance. While they ate, Dean had noticed the contours of the wings that spanned on the man’s shoulders and when he had taken off his jacket, he’d finally seen the rest of the tattoos that he had seen earlier at his elbows.

        If Castiel caught Dean’s staring, he didn’t seem to mind and Dean was more than happy that he didn’t. They were just too interesting and if he'd say something about it, well, Dean would feel awkward. Charlie however did notice him staring and just the look in her eyes told him enough. She'd have a talk with him about it soon enough. He knew her.

 

The night passed by quite nicely. Sam went home sooner than he’d do otherwise, but his leg was hurting and well, Dean could hardly see his brother hurt if he could as easily go home. They only saw a flash of the mysterious Gabriel as he came to pick him up. Jo came to pick up her girlfriend soonish, right after they had their dessert.

        “Thanks for sticking around man, but if you want you can go home,” Dean muttered eventually when one am rolled around and Castiel was still helping him out by cleaning the last tables. He'd already helped Dean do the dishes. “It’s late and you probably have school work to do anyway.”

        “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it, it’s not like I have that much to do anyway. We’re on break right now.” Castiel fell down in one of the chairs. “I have a painting that I want to work on, but that I can wait, it’s not like I won’t have the time to do so tomorrow - scratch that, today.”

        “In that case, care to finish this with me?”

Dean smiled as he grabbed the half bottle of wine that was left over from their dinner. "I don't really want to see this go to waste."

 

The next morning, Dean woke up hungover, with a ridiculous headache and a feeling of intense hatred towards his alarm clock. He really should build up his tolerance for alcohol again. He'd finished probably half of that bottle in a little under an hour and considering that he had drank a little from

        Last night was a fussy, but pleasant memory. Cas and he had started talking about a lot of things; why he wasn’t in college, how Castiel was doing with his school results, why he had decieded to pick up the job and after a little while, more personal things, about if they had partners or not. Dean couldn’t remember everything about the night, but he most certainly hoped that he didn’t embarass himself. It was something that did tend to happen when he was drunk.

        I hope I didn’t take too much liberty in tucking you in, Dean. There’s tylenol on your nightstand and some water for the headache in the morning. I’ll see you tomorrow. x Cas

His college friend was able to hold his liquor, of course he was. College was after all, a place where people drank perhaps a bit to much. He'd seen it in his little brother, before he had stopped going to college to help him out in the restaurant. Dean felt guilty for that, for getting his brother out of college.

 

That shift was awkward to say the least. Castiel kept looking at him and grinning, as if he knew something that he didn’t. Dean was curious what it was about but it also kind of scared him. He knew that he could get foolish when he was under the influence of alcohol.

        He most certainly did not hope that he made advances. That would be. Yeah, not good.

 

Castiel was one of the earlier ones to leave the next days and Dean really hoped that it didn’t mean that he indeed did something that wasn’t okay. They still talked back and forth and actually settled into an easy friendship of them bickering back and forth.

        Dean couldn't help but be distracted about tiny things about Castiel; how he would flick his tongue out and play with the piercings in his lip if he felt slightly uncomfortable, how his jeans were tight, showing off his lean runner thighs. Sometimes, Cas would leave his hair down until he entered restaurant only to put it up later and well, Dean loved seeing him look so free and happy and well, handsome. Especially on the days it got a little bit colder, when he paired the longish hair with a beanie.

Dean was falling for the guy and while part of him refused every bit of him that had to do with his possibility of being bisexual, part of him had stopped caring a long, long time ago.

After three weeks of Castiel leaving early and becoming very awkward when they had dinder though, Dean had enough of him being weird around him. If he did something, he just needed to know it, so that he could apologize for whatever it was that he did.

        “Hold on Cas,” he muttered, stopping him before going out. It was the perfect shot to talk now; Sam had already gone home because he had another date with Gabriel - how the two of them weren't already living together permanently, Dean didn't know - and Jo and Charlie had an anniversary of one of their parents. So, when it came down to it, they were alone. Dean had almost expected Castiel to chicken out and say that he had work to do, but he didn't. Castiel confused him more than he'd like to admit.

        If he didn’t stop Castiel before he went out there, Dean knew that he would never say just how much it really bothered him that he always disappeared. Soon, in a week, Cas would stop working at the restaurant and go back full time because Sam was allowed to come back sooner than he’d expected.

        “Is there something wrong, Dean?”

        “It’s what I was wondering,” he muttered. “You’ve been..avoiding me lately and I know that I got a bit drunk that night and if I did something - I barely remember that much about it. If I did, I’m sorry man.”

        “You think you did something wrong?” Castiel muttered, almost as if he seemed surprised. “There’s… nothing wrong. You didn’t do anything wrong Dean.” He fell silent, almost as if he was afraid.

        “Then tell me why you’re behaving so weird, because I don’t understand. It’s okay if you don’t want to hang out with us, really just tell us.” Dean rubbed his hand across his face. “I’m sorry. Let’s just eat, it’s none of my business and clearly I’m just tired after three long weeks. Sorry.”

        “No, Dean, that’s not.” Castiel sighed, tongue flicking out to catch his tongue piercing between his teeth, toying with it. It was something that Dean noticed he had done a few times in the past weeks. “I just...I thought that you remembered everything of that night and it’s, awkward.”

        “Let’s just forget about it, please. I don’t remember anyway.” Dean sighed again, a common thing it seemed. “The food is getting cold.”

 

Even though the night was awkward at first, things eventually got a little bit better. After their main course, things relaxed noticeably. They shared the last slice of pie, Castiel grinning as Dean got a little bit of ice cream on the corner of his mouth. His company seemed to hesitate a little, before wiping it away with his thumb. Dean didn’t even realize that he held his breath until Cas’s hand was gone again and he distanced himself again.

        “Thanks.” God, that felt awkward. Dean had to pretend that his eyes hadn’t focused on just how close those lips had been, just how much he would have liked to reach out and pull Castiel closer, regardless how he was the employee and technically, Dean was his boss. It was inappropriate and could get him into a lot of trouble. If Cas didn't feel the same way then. Dean didn't want to think about that, because he knew that it was something that probably would never come to pass.

        “You know, I have an art showing a few blocks away next week. I know that you’re not, uh, technically my boss starting Monday, but I would appreciate it if you would come and check it out.” Castiel seemed to be almost nervous as he proposed it. "You don't have to of course, if you already have something or you don't want to, it's cool."

        “I’d love to Cas.”

 

The next day was Castiel’s last day at the restaurant. Seeing him leave was bittersweet. Dean didn’t want to say goodbye to him, he was a damn good employee and hanging around with him, be it after hours or just dinner had proven to be quite good.

        Castiel however gave him the invitation for his art showing and he again, promised that he would be there.

        That had him at the showing a week later, he wasn’t exactly sure what he could expect. He’d dressed up a little, though he wouldn’t admit to his brother where he was going. It wasn’t like Dean was ashamed of the fact that he was going out with Cas, it was just that, well, he didn’t want to express the fact that he’d like it to be more than just being invited over because they were friends.

        After all, Cas and Sam were friends too and yet Sam wasn’t invited. His mind was telling him all kinds of things, things that looked very pretty in his head but not so much outside of it. He knew that it was an idle hope. And still, there was that hope. He allowed the spark to grow, liking the way that it made him feel.

 

It appeared to be a good thing that he had dressed up for the occasion. The other people there, which weren’t that many considering the fact that he had arrived only a few minutes after the exhibit or whatever Castiel wanted to call it opened, were dressed in equally dressed up fashion. It wasn’t that he would have been too undressed in his regular jeans and shirt combo.

        He spotted Cas quite easily. The man looked so incredibly uncomfortable, talking about his art to a woman, that he felt sorry for him. Dean would walk up to him later, when he had gotten the chance to at least have a look around and see what the hell his friend actually did. He probably wouldn’t get half of the art - he really didn’t have a nose for art if he was honest - but at least he wouldn’t look like a fool because he had no clue.

        About the way that Castiel stood there, you could say a lot of things, but what he did look was handsome. He’d dressed up just a little - a pair of black skinny jeans, a nice white button down with a tie - which he was fiddling with as the woman spoke - his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a black blazer with the sleeves too rolled up. He looked, well, handsome didn’t really cover it.

        It was kind of embarrassing that even after spending a good month hanging out with him, he still didn’t know what kind of art he was into. However, as he looked at the paintings, he realized that this was far from the art that he had expected from him. While Castiel had this whole rough thing going for him and small children probably wouldn’t come too close if they weren’t used to him, his paintings were… catholic. He painted angels and wings, crowns, halos. It wasn’t what he had expected at all.

        He wandered to another corner of the room where he was… surprised to see his own  face looking back at him. Dean couldn’t be sure that it actually was him, the paintings that he saw were paintings of details; an eye, nose, one painting was a detail of his mouth curled up into a lazy smile. But the last one, it couldn’t be anyone else but him. It couldn’t be because of the mere fact that it was his apartment.

        He was passed out in his bedroom, the light coming in from the curtains. He even recognized the bedding and the clutter on the nightstands. His back was to the viewer, shirt abandoned on the bed next to him alongside a bunch of bloody ace bandages. A pair of gorgeous white wings sprouted from his back, but they were frayed, the feathers were thin and fragile. Now he looked closer, he could see a few of them falling on the ground.

        ‘A fallen Angel; Dean’ art by  Castiel Novak, poetry by Castiel Novak.

        Curious he picked up the little booklet that lay next to it. He didn’t know how something as trivial as tucking in his drunk boss one night could have ever sparked something like this; he wasn’t interesting enough for paintings or for poetry.

 

        Burned feathers pave the path

        of the lonely hunter, be careful where you thread

        the road once lead to glory;

        a source in the desert, a sunset after a dark night

        but now the once glorious one has fallen off the throne

        the once proud wings wilting; the halo a crown of thorns

 

        Yet there is beauty in everything, even in the fall

        there is the learning to be human, for who once was divine

        and finding beauty in what once, you despised.

 

 

Dean found Castiel with the same woman a few minutes later, but they had just wrapped up their talk and well, Dean was glad. He had questions about the art, why he had been chosen. he already kew that Castiel wouldn’t have all the answers for him.

        “Dean!” he said, seeming to be more excited than Dean had imagined him to be. “You came! Have you been here for long? I wanted to give you the tour, but Hael wouldn’t let me go.” He laughed almost nervously. “You taken a look around yet?”

        “Yeah, I saw most. Good job man. I had no idea that you had it in you.”

        “So you already saw everything? Or did you skip a bit or?” Castiel seemed even more nervous now, not for a second looking at Dean, but at his shoes.

        “Oh, no, I uh, saw it all. Including the uh, separate pieces.” Now he too couldn’t look at him any more. Great bunch they were. What were they, teenagers? “It’s weird to see your own face where you least expect it man. A warning would have been nice.” Thing was, Dean wasn’t even angry about Castiel using him as a partial inspiration for his art works. If anything, he was honored that he was able to spark something like that, of which he couldn’t imagine needed a lot of work. He was just annoyed that Castiel hadn’t told him.

        “You saw them. I’m so sorry. If I am honest, I wouldn’t have shown them but Anna, my exhibit mate kind of forced me to do so because she liked them, or something like that. You’re not, mad, right?”

        “No, honoured if anything. Just a text would have been nice. Hey, you might see your face there, don’t freak out’.”

        “I, don’t have your phone number?” Now he seemed to be amused. Oh great.

        “I’ll give it to you, in case you want a next piece about me.” He couldn’t help but wink. “Now, Cas, do you think you could show me around? Because that would be great.”

 

They spend the rest of the night talking and walking round. The paintings were pretty without knowning all the little symbolisms to them, but with the extra information that Cas gave, they seemed to become even prettier. Dean lingered back whenever somebody had a question about the art, because he knew that him being there wouldn’t help at all. A few people walked over to him, to ask him if he was the one in the paintings and after a while, he begrudgingly started saying yes.

        “You must be so weirded out about the art. I would be if I had my face on a painting shown here,” one of the girls, presumably from his class said. “That’s just crazy, right? Cas is such a weirdo.” Dean was about to say no, that it wasn’t that crazy, but something about the look in the girl’s eyes rubbed him wrong. “You’re too handsome to be one of his friends. He always hangs out with the weird kids. You look too… normal for him.”

        Castiel chose that moment to step over to them, a clearly unpleased look in his eyes. Something told Dean that he didn’t exactly like this girl. Well, Dean didn’t either.

        “Hey babe,” Dean said with a smile as Cas stopped beside him. “This girl here was just telling you how she loved your art. You told me her name, but I’m afraid I don’t remember.” He hoped that his expression of ‘please play this with me, I’ll buy you a drink later’ was clear enough for his friend. “She’s not the only one, there had been quite a few passing by who absolutely loved it.”

        Dean reached back and wrapped his arm loosely around Castiel’s waist, tugging him closer. The look in the girl’s eyes was just pure gold.

        “I got to go now. You’re doing a great job, Cas.”

        “Okay, what was that about?” Castiel asked when the girl had left, not bothering to step back or take Dean’s arm away from his waist. “Not that I mind pretending to be your boyfriend that much, lets be honest here. My sexuality isn't something that I talk about with my classmates. Or you for that matter.”

        “Oh fuck - I think I assumed, you are.”

        “Don't worry about it, you should have seen your face. No, I am pan, don't worry about it, it's just not something that I really talk about with them. I won't be seeing them though, so I guess that it can't be too bad." He tilted his head, his puppy expression present. "Why _did_ you do it?"

        “She was dissing you and I didn’t like it one bit,” Dean shrugged. “I wanted to shock her. Guess that worked. Got her off her high horse. ‘You’re too handsome for him, too normal. She’s the weirdo.”

        “Well, thanks.” Castiel seemed slightly uncomfortable and… touched?

 

By the time that his showing ended, Dean brought him out to the pub. They both  needed the drink; Dean after seeing himself there and well, realizing that he had given in to the yearning that he had had for quite a while now. Castiel just had to explain his art over and over and over again to strangers, if that didn’t make him want to drink, Dean didn’t know what would. Some of these people went in so much detail in their questions, asking about the paint that he had used.

                After a few drinks, they really loosened up. Dean wouldn’t say that he was getting drunk just yet, but he felt the pleasant buzzing of his blood and how the tension seeped out of his shoulders. This was nice. Dean hadn’t felt truly relaxed in ages and this, this most certainly helped.

                 Eventually, they decided that they both had enough to drink. Of at least, Dean was the one to make that call after seeing Castiel get up to reposition or something and almost fall to the floor. Dean couldn’t say that he had minded the effect the alcohol had on his friend, he seemed to be a lot looser. They talked about things that they probably wouldn’t have talked about if they hadn’t been drinking. Especially that night, the night that Dean remembered very little about.

        “You know, I want to kiss you,” Castiel muttered as Dean hauled him in his apartment. He would have taken him home, but he had no idea where he actually lived so he figured that it was okay if he just crashed on the couch, or the bed. His back would kill him if Dean slept on the couch himself, but he figured that Cas was worth it.  “Have wanted to ever since that night. But you’re my boss. So I couldn’t.”

        “Come on Cas, let’s get you into bed,” Dean sighed, pulling the other man along, pretending that his mind wasn’t reeling from just the other man’s admission. “We can talk about this tomorrow. Okay?” He helped Cas out of his shoes and blazer, hands lingering on the shirt. If he’d sleep in it, he’d be incredibly uncomfortable in the morning, but if he didn’t have anything on underneath.

        “Oh fuck it,” he sighed, pulling Cas up so he was resting against the headboard. He was out like a light and didn’t even notice it when Dean loosened the tie and unbuttoned his shirt. Just the tattoo across his ribs had him staring for at least a minute, zoning out. Why did he have a huge crush on a guy with enough tattoos to give him a heart attack each time that he discovered a new one. “Let’s get you in one of my shirts, huh?” He pulled one of his worn shirts over Castiel’s head, struggling with getting his arms through the holes. He ignored the way his heart fluttered at the sight of Cas in one of his shirts.

        When he tried to tuck him though, the other man’s eyes fluttered open.

        “Stay.” He reached out for Dean, taking his wrist in his hand, trying to stop him from going. “Please? I don’t want to wake up alone again.”

        “Yeah. Yeah, let me just put on my PJ’s.” He knew that he would regret it in the morning, that both of them would regret it, but in this moment, he wanted to be selfish.

 

Dean woke up with Castiel curled against him, head resting on his chest. Somehow, during the night, they had snuggled up together, Dean’s arm draped over Cas’s back, Cas’s arm over his waist. However reluctant Dean was to admit it, this felt nice, not being alone when he woke up, having a warm body pressing against him. He let himself soak in the calm and happiness just a little bit longer.

        Of course, he fell asleep again. By the time he woke up again, the other side of the bed was cold. Dean guessed that it shouldn’t surprise him, it had been foolish to think that perhaps he would have stayed. He wasn’t worth it, part of him was perhaps but people never stuck around.

        He sighed before rolling out of bed, not bothering to put on his shirt before padding into the living room, only to come to an abrupt halt at the sight of Cas… cooking? He was messy haired and still in Dean’s shirt, having found the apron. From the looks of it, he was flipping bacon.

        “I hope you don’t uh, mind,” Castiel said, a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks. He was adorable. “I just figured that you cook a lot in the restaurant and.”

        “That’s, thanks man.”

        “I’m sorry about last night, I  shouldn’t have said that. If this makes things awkward.” Castiel sighed before sliding the bacon onto his plate.

        “It, doesn’t.” He did now of course, feelings always made him feel just a little bit awkward. This time though, he had to go through with it. Otherwise, things would get awkward again and Dean really didn’t want that to happen. “Ah fuck, I don’t usually tend to.”

        “Dean, it’s okay. If you don’t want to.”

        “No, let me for a second Cas. If I don’t talk about it now I won’t.” He ran his hand over his face before sighing. Man up Winchester. “Did you mean what you said last night? About, wanting to… kiss me?” Castiel nodded. Dean closed the distance between them, pulling Castiel closer. “I see. Then. I can finally do this.”

        And they were kissing, gentle at first as Castiel seemed to be taken by surprise but rougher after. Dean couldn’t help but slide his hand up and tangle it through his hair, thumb gently tracing circles at the base of his neck.

        “You have absolutely no idea how long I’ve waited for this,” Cas whispered, pulling back. “Absolutely no clue.”

        “We could have done this such a long time ago. I am such an idiot.” Dean sighed. “I have wanted to kiss you ever since seeing you that first time, with your stupidly tight pair of skinny jeans and your hair in a bun.”

        “Yeah. But you’re my idiot.” Castiel laughed to himself, playfully kissing the top of Dean’s nose. “And I knew that you were staring you know. I just figured you’d think that I was a nerd or something. To be honest, I was so scared that you’d fire me at first, because I’m not exactly, up to society’s norms.”

        “Nope. If anything, I was wondering how the fuck I was supposed to have you work with us without popping a boner.” He felt his cheeks burn at the admission but well, it was the truth. There had been occasion that he had been this close to actually pulling Castiel to the back of the restaurant after shift ended and just taking him on the counter, press kisses all over his tattoo’s, slide his lips down those hipbones, teasing him just slightly with his tongue and let his hands roam those sides while he let his mouth do all the work. “Which, admittedly, didn’t work.” Arousal stirred in his body and judging from the look in Cas’s eyes, he’d caught on to those thoughts.

        He pulled Dean closer again, kissing his lips gently before sliding lower, to his jawline, his earlobe, nibbling on it ever so slightly. His hands slid lower, toying with the hem of his shirt before sliding his hands under, nails dragging on his skin

                “How about we move this to somewhere better?” he whispered in his ear, voice low. “I got a few… ideas of how we could spend our lazy Sunday.” One of his hands slipped down his back, the other one taking one of his hands in his and guiding them to Cas’s back as he spoke. “And one of them involves lube and, the rest you can imagine.” He dropped his hand at his ass. Oh yes he got that hint.

                    “How about breakfast?” Not that he actually cared about the stupid breakfast, Cas’s proposal the final thing that his body needed to finally

                    “Breakfast can wait.”

 


End file.
